Others series
The Others series by Anne Bishop. Genres and Sub-Genres Urban Fantasy Series Description or Overview Meg Corbyn, a cassandra sangue, who escapes from her Controller after spending her life in servitude. As a blood prophet, Meg is prized for her ability to see the future through the cutting of her skin. She tries to hide in the Lakeside Courtyard, a business district owned and operated by the terra indigene and headed by Simon Wolfgard. It is a place where “human law does not apply.” As their new Human Liaison, Meg attempts to quietly build a new life for herself, in spite of the limited time she knows she has left. She is the most valuable cassandra sangue in the institute from which she escaped, and her Controller is determined to have her back in his possession. In learning how to live in the real world for the first time in her life, Meg begins to form relationships with the wary and reluctant terra indigene she comes in contact with. The terra indigene come to realize that perhaps there may be more to this human than meets the eye. When the Controller has government officials putting the pressure on local law enforcement for Meg’s apprehension, the terra indigene of the Courtyard must decide whether or not she is worth the fight. ~ Fantasy Faction Lead's Species *Cassandra Sangue: blood prophet Primary Supe *The Others: Weres and Vampires among other forms What Sets it Apart *A curious view of how things could have been different when 'Europeans' found new continents, and were meals instead of conquerers. Humor mixed in with Vampires and Were creatures, not just blood and sorrow. Friendship between creatures of all kinds, united in an attempt to keep their many species, and their world, alive. Narrative Type and Narrators *Third person narrative, multiple perspectives. Books in Series Others series # Written In Red (2013) # Murder of Crows (2014) # Vision in Silver (2015) # Marked in Flesh (2016) # Etched in Bone (2017) Shorts, Anthologies and Guides none yet World of the Others # Lake Silence (2018) # Wild Country (2019) World Building Setting Namid — Earth-like world *Anne Bishop: List of places *Anne Bishop: MAP Places: * Lakeside Courtyard (business district operated by the Others), * Thasia: Continental mass. * Lakeside: The city on Thasia * Brittania: Other-world version of Britain * Cal Romano * The Compound where Meg and other girls were held and cut for profit. One of many such places built for the exploitation of blood prophets. * The Chambers: Area of the Lakeside Courtyard dedicated to the Sanguinati, or Vampires. * Sweetwater * Ferryman's Landing: Intuit settlement near Lakeside. Supernatural Elements ✥ Vampires (Sanguinati), intuits, elementals, Cassandra Sangue. S'''hape-shifting wolves, birds of prey, cats, sharks, and bears. Spirit-guide. Supernatural drugs. And the Elders. '''Glossary: * Others: unearthly entities * Cassandra Sangue: blood prophet—THEY can see the future when their skin is cut. * Terra Indigene: earth natives—most live hidden from human eyes; the most familiar Terra Indigene are Shape-shifters and vampires. * Namid: The world, and the godly entity that shaped life on the world. 'Groups & Organizations': *HFL: the 'Humans First and Last' movement, headed by Nicholas Scratch. Wishes to gain control of Thasia's natural resources for human use, and to obliterate if possible the Terra Indigene. Made up of soon-to-be wolf food. World * Map: The Courtyard & Lakeside ✥ Bishop invents an entire Earth-like world, Namid, populated by a fascinating array of supernatural Others—and the humans who are their prey. On the continent of Thaisia, humans are tolerated for their technical and inventive talents, but they tread very carefully, knowing that if they transgress, they’ll be lunch for shape-shifting wolves, raptors, bears, vampires or worse. ✥ Namid is an earth world dominated by the Others, creatures almost as old as the world they live in. They are at the top of the food chain in every age, regardless of what the humans would like to believe. Shape-shifters and vampires are the more familiar face and form of the terra indigene, or earth natives. Most of the terra indigene, however, live hidden from human eyes, intolerant of this “new kind of meat.” In the tenuous peace that exists between the terra indigene and humans, we see a history where the Others remind humans of their place in this world time and again. As each character is introduced, we get a closer look into the beings that are the terra indigene, who are much more interesting than your garden-variety vampires and shape-shifters. ~ Fantasy Faction Protagonists ✥ Meg Corbyn: Into the northeastern city of Lakeside, in the middle of winter, staggers Meg Corbyn, freezing, friendless and desperate. A cassandra sangue, or blood prophet, Meg Corbyn sees the future when her skin is cut—for her, the result can be agony or ecstasy. She and many other like women were slaves of the Controller, whose rich clients pay well for their visions. Naïve but resourceful, Meg escaped and now seeks refuge in the Lakeside Courtyard, the business district operated by the Others, and a place where human law does not apply. ~ WRITTEN IN RED #1 by Anne Bishop | Kirkus ✥ Simon Wolfgard: Against his wolfish instincts—Meg is human, but doesn’t smell like prey—Simon Wolfgard hires her as Human Liaison, a job that entails running the local delivery office. And Meg proves adept at looking after Sam, Simon’s orphaned nephew, so traumatized by his mother’s death that he’s locked in wolf form. Simon has other problems too: pushy Asia Crane, secretly a spy for the mysterious Bigwig; disturbing and unaccountable reports from out west of humans and Others running berserk and slaughtering both each other and their own kind; and the human police, who have been instructed to urgently locate someone who looks very much like Meg Corbyn. ~ WRITTEN IN RED #1 by Anne Bishop | Kirkus Book Cover Blurbs ✤ BOOK ONE BLURB—Written In Red (2013): Enter a world inhabited by the Others, unearthly entities - vampires and shape-shifters among them - who rule the Earth and whose prey are humans. As a cassandra sangue, or blood prophet, Meg Corbyn can see the future when her skin is cut - a gift that feels more like a curse. Meg's Controller keeps her enslaved so he can have full access to her visions. But when she escapes, the only safe place Meg can hide is at the Lakeside Courtyard - a business district operated by the Others. Shape-shifter Simon Wolfgard is reluctant to hire the stranger who inquires about the Human Liaison job. First, he senses she's keeping a secret, and second, she doesn't smell like human prey. Yet a stronger instinct propels him to give Meg the job. And when he learns the truth about Meg and that she's wanted by the government, he'll have to decide if she's worth the fight between humans and the Others that will surely follow. ~ Fantastic Fiction ✤ BOOK TWO BLURB—Murder of Crows (2014):Return to New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop's "phenomenal" (Urban Fantasy Investigations) world of the Others - where supernatural entities and humans struggle to co-exist, and one woman has begun to change all the rules... After winning the trust of the terra indigene residing in the Lakeside Courtyard, Meg Corbyn has had trouble figuring out what it means to live among them. As a human, Meg should be barely tolerated prey, but her abilities as a cassandra sangue make her something more. The appearance of two addictive drugs has sparked violence between the humans and the Others, resulting in the murder of both species in nearby cities. So when Meg has a dream about blood and black feathers in the snow, Simon Wolfgard - Lakeside's shape-shifting leader - wonders if their blood prophet dreamed of a past attack or a future threat. As the urge to speak prophecies strikes Meg more frequently, trouble finds its way inside the Courtyard. Now, the Others and the handful of humans residing there must work together to stop the man bent on reclaiming their blood prophet - and stop the danger that threatens to destroy them all. ~ Murder of Crows (Others , book 2) - FF ✤ BOOK THREE BLURB—Vision In Silver (March 3, 2015): The Others freed the cassandra sangue to protect the blood prophets from exploitation, not realizing their actions would have dire consequences. Now the fragile seers are in greater danger than ever before—both from their own weaknesses and from those who seek to control their divinations for wicked purposes. In desperate need of answers, Simon Wolfgard, a shape-shifter leader among the Others, has no choice but to enlist blood prophet Meg Corbyn’s help, regardless of the risks she faces by aiding him. Meg is still deep in the throes of her addiction to the euphoria she feels when she cuts and speaks prophecy. She knows each slice of her blade tempts death. But Others and humans alike need answers, and her visions may be Simon’s only hope of ending the conflict. For the shadows of war are deepening across the Atlantik, and the prejudice of a fanatic faction is threatening to bring the battle right to Meg and Simon’s doorstep… ~ Anne Bishop: ✤ BOOK FOUR BLURB—Marked in Flesh (2016): For centuries, the Others and humans have lived side by side in uneasy peace. But when humankind oversteps its bounds, the Others will have to decide how much humanity they’re willing to tolerate—both within themselves and within their community... Since the Others allied themselves with the cassandra sangue, the fragile yet powerful human blood prophets who were being exploited by their own kind, the delicate dynamic between humans and Others changed. Some, like Simon Wolfgard, wolf shifter and leader of the Lakeside Courtyard, and blood prophet Meg Corbyn, see the new, closer companionship as beneficial—both personally and practically. But not everyone is convinced. A group of radical humans is seeking to usurp land through a series of violent attacks on the Others. What they don’t realize is that there are older and more dangerous forces than shifters and vampires protecting the land that belongs to the Others—and those forces are willing to do whatever is necessary to protect what is theirs… ~ Anne Bishop: ✤ BOOK FIVE BLURB—Etched in Bone (2017): After a human uprising was brutally put down by the Elders—a primitive and lethal form of the Others—the few cities left under human control are far-flung. And the people within them now know to fear the no-man’s-land beyond their borders—and the darkness… As some communities struggle to rebuild, Lakeside Courtyard has emerged relatively unscathed, though Simon Wolfgard, its wolf shifter leader, and blood prophet Meg Corbyn must work with the human pack to maintain the fragile peace. But all their efforts are threatened when Lieutenant Montgomery’s shady brother arrives, looking for a free ride and easy pickings. With the humans on guard against one of their own, tensions rise, drawing the attention of the Elders, who are curious about the effect such an insignificant predator can have on a pack. But Meg knows the dangers, for she has seen in the cards how it will all end—with her standing beside a grave ~ Anne Bishop: Category:Series